LMTV top on my Deuce

[Varyag]

So, I got this great LMTV top with full cage from Gimpy today and I putting the thing together and notice a few things seem great but are a bit off. Anyone have an LMTV tm who could scan me in the assembly instructions? I am bolting square tubing to the uprights at the corners to make the slots the poles slide into. System seems to work great. Just need to make sure I am assembling it correctly before I go tearing down the highway with it.

BTW, Gimpy is a master at putting crates together. That was an awsome job he did with that. Can't tell ye how good he is to get stuff from.

And before I get:



It was 9pm when I was finished playing so no pics yet. I will post some tomorrow on how I set it up.

 

[mdlbldrmatt135]

I have the whole thing I can email... PM me an Addy. it's TM 9-2320-365-24p I added it to the Resorces section but it hasn't been approved AFIK yet. (It's a 19,000kb file)

 

[Varyag]

I got the mod complete today. Here is a rundown of what i had to do to get the top and cage to fit.

The 3 main bows are 2 inches too wide so I took 1 1/2 inch square tubing cut into 1 foot lengths and bolted them useing 3 1/2 inch 3/8ths bolts to the corner and center uprights on the outside. The uprights fit right inside the tubes after that.

Gimp cut 20" off the bottom of the legs for shipping, so I am basing all measurements off of that starting point. The bolt holes are 1 inch from the bottom and 5 and 1/4 inches from the bottom of the square tubing. When the tube is flush with the top of the upright it leaves 41 inches to the bed bottom from the first 45 degree bend in the hoop when the bottom of the feet are seated with the top bolt. It made the cover sit perfect with the bed. While I had them on the press I drilled a hole 3 inches down from the top of the tube 90 degrees to the bolt holes. This gave me a spot to put in quick release pins to hold the hoops down.

The 10 poles that go between the hoops are too long. There are 2 sets. a long set of 5 and a short set of 5. I measured the distance between the 3 hoops at 70 1/2 inches so I cut them all to that with a chop saw. All 10 of them. When they were fit in, they squared the bed perfectly.

After all of that I just asssembled it to the TM and it worked out. Now I can get LMTV cargo covers that run about half the cost online. There is a tiny bit of slack in the back of the top because the LMTV bed is about 3 1/2 inches longer then a deuce. You really don't notice it.

I will post pics tomorrow. A thunderstorm kicked up as I was doing this so I just threw on a poncho and kept working. Didn't want to endanger the camera.

 

[Csm Davis]

 

[Varyag]

Here are some shots of the uprights installed. Still haven't gotten the rest off the camera yet.

 

[Varyag]

Pics

 

[srodocker]

stop teasing...

 

[Varyag]

Finally, some of the finished truck.

 

[wsucougarx]

wow, that setup looks incredible!! How much room do you have on the inside as far as heigth?

 

[Varyag]

I am 6'2 and have to bend my neck a bit. Wife can hop around just fine.

 

[wsucougarx]

BTW, beautiful job on the paint! What brand of paint did you use? Gillespie? How many gallons of each did you use?

 

[Varyag]

The Gillespie 383 collection by Rapco. 3 gallons of 383 green, 1 gallon of brown, 1 gallon of black. all cut with 2 gallons of xylene. So 7 gallons sprayed total. I got the pick your own 12 pack of 383 as well for touch up stuff along with the tan carc to do bumper numbers when I get a chance.

 

[Varyag]

It sure has come a long way huh....

 

[davidkroberts]

with it being a little long in the back is it possible to roll the top back under itself and collect it to the next runner underneath?

That is a very clean install gives a nice neat finish

 

[srodocker]

i have 4 gal of 383 green and thats all im going with for now. what primer should i get from the auto store and also you need to cut the paint down? hrm what should i get ?

 

[Varyag]

I was thinking about trying to do a little fold over to take up some of the slack in the back but it would mess with the sides a bit so I left it. I also tried scooting it forward to even it out but it just made it sloppy looking up front. The hang over really isn't that bad. You could space out the uprights a bit more by attaching them to a plate at each corner to make the bed longer. I thought about it but this seemed much cleaner.

I used xylene to cut the paint down to 1 part thinner and 3 parts paint. So one gallon of thinner should be fine for 4. The red oxide primer seems like the best from what I have heard. Why the heck make it green SRO?? I thought your truck looked the best out of the litter as far as a pattern.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Just got my internet turned back on. Looks really good! I think I will have to do the same to my truck. Glad it was received in good condition.

 

[srodocker]

reason im painting is because theres tons of surface rust...just doesnt look clean to me plus i love green

 

[Amer-team]

As an alternate method for the LMTV tops. I have the 14 foot dropside bed and have a new camo top. I thought about using the LMTV frame, but went with jacking up the top bows eight inches. It seemed to work out just right. The top is a little saggy, but will let it set and play with adjustment later. Before it hung down so far on the bed that it would not tie down very well. I can't stand up in it either, but it is nicer, height wise, than it was.

 

[Floridianson]

Nice. Wonder how to the cover would do on a M816